こんにちは！
Hellos and welcome, dear readers!
週の初めはなぜかブログ
頑張り気味のタカペンです（笑）
Not sure why, but for some reason I seem to be writing more blog entries towards beginning of the week rather than towards the end of the week. lol
今週は英訳記事もあるし
次の動画の翻訳も進めたいし
あんまりブログ書かないぞー
I need to work on my explanation article for my translyrics as well as working on the translation on my next tranlyrics video, so I wasn't going to write anymore blog entries this week after yesterday.
と思ってたのですが
季節柄のネタがポロポロと
あるので書いとかないと！
But! Things just happen and I felt the need to write about them.
とゆーことで
今回の記事になりました
So here's another blog entry from me!
写真は残念ながらほぼありませんが！
Although this time, there're like no pics at all, unfortunately. Just words. :)
冬時間 / Falling Back
特筆することは別にないのですが
日本になくてアメリカにあるもの
の一つが
夏時間と冬時間の時間変更ですよね
Nothing much to talk about. It's one of the things that takes place in the U.S. and which doesn't take place in Japan, and it's the daylight saving time.
現在ずっと夏時間で統一しよう
と言う動きはあるようですが
とりあえず一昨日冬時間になったので
軽く触れておこうかと
While there's a movement right now to just keep the daylight saving time and get rid of the standard time, that won't be for another year or so, so I thought I might as well touch briefly upon the subject.
タカペンは東海岸なので
夏時間だと日本との時差が
13時間遅れです
で
冬時間になると1時間遅れるので
14時間遅れ
になります
I live on the East coast, so during EDT (Eastern Daylight Time) the time difference is 13 hours later than Japan time zone. And during EST (Easter Standard Time), the time difference becomes 14 hours later.
ベースの時間は冬時間の方だそうで
"Standard Time" らしいです
で、夏時間は
"Daylight Saving Time" で
お日様の出てる時間を
惜しみなく満遍なく使い倒そう！
と言うコンセプトっぽいです
In regards to the daylight saving time, the base time is the time used in winter, hence the name "Standard Time." Apparently the daylight saving time started back in the early 20th century to make as much use of the daylight time as possible, hence the name "daylight saving."
そんな時間変更が
春に一回と、秋に一回と
あるのですが、
どっちでどう時間が動くのか
覚える為のフレーズが
So the time changes once in spring, and once in fall, and the mnemonic device we have to remember which way the time changes is
"spring foward, fall back"です。
「前に飛び出る、後ろに倒れる」
spring に春と言う名詞と
跳ぶと言う動詞の意味があって
fall に秋と言う名詞と
落ちると言う動詞の意味があっての
言葉遊びですね
Basically a word play on "spring" and "fall." "Spring" can refer to the season as well as the verb to leap, and "fall" is one way of saying "autumn" and of course, a word to describe when you trip and you go splat. :)
ってなんか英語教えますブログ
みたいになっちゃいましたが（笑）
This is becoming like a lesson on English now. lol
土曜日の夜に時間が1時間 fall back
したわけなんですよ
But anyway, so between Saturday and Sunday, the time fell back by one hour.
で、その最大の利点は
The biggest merit, of course
朝起きる時間が楽になる！
1時間遅れになるわけですからね！
is that I get to wake up an hour later!! There's probably nothing better than the feeling that you get to sleep in one more hour without any penalty.
問題は夕方です
The not so great side of the end of the daylight saving time is the evening.
夏は夜の8時ぐらいまで
明るくて仕事の後も
散歩に出たりして楽しいのですが
In summer, it's still bright outside around 8pm in the evening. I still have a lot of time to eat dinner, then go outside for a walk and do things after work.
冬時間になると…
However when daylight saving time ends...
定時にあがって
もう真っ暗です；；
Even before 5pm, it's nearly pitch black outside...
ちょっぴりしょぼーん
って感じです
It's a tad a bit depressing to see when you finally get off from work and you step outside into the darkness.
そして「ああ、もう冬なんだな～」
と感じます
But that's winter for you, and winter's got its own blessings. :)
ここ最近、昨日まで気温が
異常に暑かったので
半袖でしたが（笑）
Although it's been so warm these days that until yesterday, I was wearing short sleeves, and it definitely didn't feel anything like winter or even fall. lol
選挙 / Elections
さて、今年はたまたまなのか
よくわかりませんが、
冬時間になってすぐに
選挙の日です！
So anyway, not sure if this is coincidental or it falls out this way every year and I've never noticed it, but this year, right after the daylight saving time ended, we have the Election day.
とゆーことで
とってもかる～く
この日について触れておきます
So I thought I might as well talk very, very briefly about it.
えーと、政治的なことって
全く無頓着なのでうろ覚えですが
確か11月の二週目の火曜日が
選挙の日なんですね
I'm not very politically inclined, in fact you can say I'm politically disinclined...! so I really might be getting this wrong, but I think in the U.S., the election day takes place the second Tuesday of November.
なのでコロナ前までは
選挙しに行って、そこから
出勤する、と言うパターンが
結構普通だったので、この日は
ちょっと出勤の遅い人が
多かったんです
Before the pandemic, people used to come to work late because they'd go voting first thing in the morning.
最近はコロナの影響で
リモートワークだったり
郵便で投票できたり、とかで
そう言った11月の名物も、多分
あまり見られなくなったのでは
ないかと思います
Now though, because of the pandemic, more people are working remotely, and you can also vote by mail, so you don't get to see your coworkers walk in late anymore.
時代は移り行くものですね！
Never thought things would change so drastically in my lifetime!
そして選挙の話題ついでに
昔仕事を始めたときに、
先輩から教わったことなのですが、
職場でタブーの３話題があります
And speaking of elections, I just remembered my coworker telling me a long time ago when I just started working, that there are three things you should not talk about at the workplace:
政治
教育
politics
education
そして
and
三つ目忘れました えへ
um forgot the third one... :P
あ、思い出しました
Oh, yeah, I know.
宗教
religion
だったかな・・・（汗
I think...?
この三つは、喧嘩になって
同僚同士で気まずくなりやすいので
基本的に、話してはいけない
These three subjects you want to avoid because people could get into heated arguments and end up holding enmities towards each other later on, so you should avoid talking about them.
と教わりました
Or that's what they told me.
多分ネタとしては豊富なので
話題にしやすいのですが、
過敏な人も多いので、
気を付けましょうね、
と言うことみたいです
These topics are very easy to talk about because people have their own opinions on the matter, but at the same time, everyone's very touchy on these subjects, so they should be avoided as much as possible.
なので私も基本的に
この３話題に関しては
お口チャックです
So I try to take care not to talk about them at work even if I see other people talking about them. :)
アメリカで話題に困ったら
天気とスポーツと家族
のどれかが無難ですし、
家族の話題は大抵の人は
たくさん喋ってくれます（笑）
If you need a topic to talk about in the U.S., you can talk about the weather, sports, or family. People don't tend to be that touchy (except maybe for sports) and most times, people get very talkative about their family, especially if they have kids. :)
おまけのお話 / And Some
そして何とも全く関係のない
小話です
Lastly, a tiny little story that's unrelated to anything.
先日知人から聞いて面白かったので
A friend of mine was telling me about what happened to them the other day and I thought it was funny so I thought I'd share.
知人はピアノを最近始めたのですが
先日天気が良いからと
窓をあけっぱなしで
練習してたらしいんですね
This friend started practicing the piano recently, and the other day, because it was such a beautiful weather, they were practicing with the windows open.
アパート住まいなのですが
落ち葉をかさかささせる音がして
人が外を通り過ぎてるな、と
思ってたら
They live in an apartment on one of the lower levels, it sounds like. My friend heard someone walking by but didn't think much of it.
おもむろに
When suddenly
咳払いに続いて
"Uh huh, oh yeah!"
みたいな入りから
ラップが始まったそうです（笑）
that someone outside suddenly after a cough and "uh huh, oh yeah!" they just started rapping! lol
知人がちょうどジャズっぽい
コードを弾いてたらしくて
なんかそれにノリノリで
ラップを乗せてきたらしいです
Apparently my friend was playing some jazzy chords (the 7th or something?) and that passer-by just started rapping to the piano.
知人めっちゃびびって
とにかく続けなきゃ、と
頑張ってその謎のラッパーに
合わせてピアノを弾いてたら
It completely caught my friend by surprise and they got really nervous since they've only started playing piano recently, but for some reason they felt they had to try to keep up and entertain the passerby rapper so they kept on playing. lol
そのうちラップが終わって
高らかに "Thank you, man!"
とお礼を言って
その謎のラッパーさんが
去ったそうです
Soon the rapper stopped, and with a "Thank you, man!" he left.... rofl
知人が「なんだったんだ！？」
とドキドキして窓に行って
確認したころには、もう
視界にはいなかったそうです
By the time my friend went to the window to try to see who it was, the rapper was nowhere to be seen. lol
別にマンハッタンのど真ん中
とか都心のど真ん中と言うわけでもなく
結構田舎と言えば田舎なので
びっくりしたそうです（笑）
It's not like they live in a city, but in a quiet suburban neighborhood, so my friend was saying how much of a surprise it really was. I just kept on laughing throughout the whole story I found it hilarious. lol
アメリカはとにかく
ノリの良い人が多いな～
と改めて感じたエピソードでした
America is a pretty funny country. You got a lot of friendly people.
とは言え、そんな物語にでも
出てきそうなお話、私も
初めて聞きましたけど（笑）
Although tbh, in all my time this country, I've never heard anything like that really happening to someone I know outside of a novel. lol
そして知人はもう二度と
窓を開けて練習しない
と決めたそうです（笑）
And although I thought the episode was pretty funny, my friend found it too nerve wracking, so they said they're never ever going to practice again with their windows opened. lol
以上タカペンのしょーもない日常のお話しでした！
また次の記事にお付き合いいただければ幸いです♪
ではではっ！
And so that ends my stories for today.
Thank you for reading and enjoy your day! Taka out!
